Online sell of arms? Maha govt warns of strict action

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday warned of strict action, after a complaint on the alleged online sell of arms was filed with the Aurangabad Police.

He also said the loan waiver announced by the state government will provide huge relief to farmers in the next couple of months.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Deshmukh condoled the suicide of a farmer at Pathardi in Ahmednagar district and said all possible help would be given to his family.

Distressed over outstanding debts and unpaid monthly instalments of his truck, which got stolen, the farmer Malhari Batule (35) killed himself by consuming poison on Thursday evening, hours after his son read out a poem in his school asking farmers not to commit suicide due to agricultural distress.

"The loan waiver will provide huge relief to farmers in the next couple of months," he added.

Replying to a query on the complaint about alleged online sale of arms in Aurangabad, Deshmukh said, "We are hearing about this for the first time in Maharashtra. There are set rules for selling and keeping arms. A complaint has been filed about the online sale of arms in Aurangabad. Strict action will be taken after verification of facts".

After taking charge, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last December announced the loan waiver scheme for those farmers whose crop debt outstanding is up to Rs 2 lakh till September 30, 2019.

Earlier this week, the government released the first list of 15,000 farmers benefited under the scheme.